Lions, Sharks set for titanic battle
BACKROW DUEL COULD DECIDE OUTCOME Home side tipped to edge this bruising encounter.
Amassive battle looms at Ellis Park between the Lions and the Sharks this weekend for early bragging rights in Super Rugby’s Africa 2 Conference. Both teams have lost just once with the Sharks going down to the Reds in Brisbane and the Lions to the Jaguares in Buenos Aires, but the Argentinians are also pushing hard in their conference.
There could especially be a big battle between the backrowers with the Lions boasting Jaco Kriel, Ruan Ackermann and Warren Whiteley, pitted against Jacques Vermeulen, Jean-Luc du Preez and Tera Mtembu.
Kriel in particular has been on top of his game evident from his Man-of-the-Match award in the 42-19 win against the Kings in Port Elizabeth last weekend.
“Next up we have to face the Sharks and they are never an easy team to play against,” said Kriel.
“There will be huge physical battles. It’s always a big contest when you play them.”
The Lions will also be eager to end with a win before their first bye next week, while they will resume their efforts away in Cape Town on April 15 against the Stormers.
“This week for us it’s about recovery and put that Kings win behind us and start all over again,” Kriel said.
Kriel believes the way they fell off their game in the second half will eradicate any kind of complacency. “We started off well but I thought we maybe were guilty of taking the foot off the pedal and you can’t afford to do that in Super Rugby,” he said.
The Lions might be minor favourites for this weekend but the Sharks have shown remarkable improvement this season.
“Any team will punish you in Super Rugby when you are slightly off your game.
“I thought we were very hungry and the intensity showed in the first half but we were not happy with our efforts in the second half.”